ELA.01

Most Important Line Banner.png

SUMMARY	KEY INFORMATION
In this Cornerstone, students will analyze how August Wilson builds tension and orchestrates surprises in his play, Fences, then identify and rank important lines in the play. They will discuss rationales for their rankings, respond to each other's rationales, and write rationale statements to defend their ranking. Students will then select one line to perform. This culminates in students performing their lines in a collective performance, and writing reflective short essays to describe the impact off the performance on their comprehension of the play. This deeper comprehension will then be used to finalize the essay responding to the prompt, "How does August Wilson use stories within the story to build mystery, tension, and surprise in the play, Fences?"	GRADE 9 TOPIC Most Important Lines LESSONS Download Download Download	DURATION 2 Days INSTRUCTIONAL MODEL Close Reading / Close Study AUTHOR(S) Chrisanne Lahue

RESOURCES

The lessons for this Cornerstone require the resources listed below. More information regarding the use of each of the resources can be located in the Cornerstone lesson plans.

TEXTS AND WEBSITES

Fences by August Wilson

SUPPLIES & TECHNOLOGY

This Cornerstone does not require any materials

CURRICULUM INTEGRATION

Cornerstones are relevant, rigorous, and aligned to national learning standards. Use the tabs below to learn more about aligning to standards, embedding the Cornerstone in your unit of study, and preparing to teach the Cornerstones.

STANDARDS

RL.9.4 Analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.

RL.9.5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within in, and manipulate time create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.

RL.9.3. Analyze how complex characters develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE AND EXTENSIONS

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Before this exercise, students will have closely read the play Fences by August Wilson, and will have collected textual evidence from monologues and dialogues that tell stories within the story. They will have been developing their comprehension of what build tensions or creates surprises in this play.

PLACEMENT

BEFORE

The Cornerstone comes after the second read of the play, "Fences." After students complete the Cornerstone, they will begin their evidence-based writing response.

Learning goals for the Cornerstone:

Identify and rank important lines in the play Fences by August Wilson
Write and defend rationales for why these lines are important to the play
Speak selected lines multiple times
Listen to multiple performances of fellow students' selected lines
Reflect on how hearing the lines performed, and performing lines, impacts comprehension of the central ideas of the play
Prepare to apply new insights and deeper comprehension to revising Fences essays that explain how Wilson builds mystery, tension, and surprise in this play

AFTER

After this experience, students will reflect on how comprehension of the play changed as a results of this important lines exercise. Students will also be more prepared to respond to the evidence-based writing prompt.

PLANNING

To plan for this Cornerstone, read the summary, consult the rubrics and lesson plans, and utilize student work provided.

INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACH

Auditory experience of the spoken lines in drama can change comprehension of the lines. Selecting and ranking lines by importance presses students into deeper analysis of the text, especially the ways in which Wilson builds tension in this play.

PEDAGOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Teacher facilitation of the exercise itself must allow for students to complete tasks at varying rates. The teacher must be aware of different paces, and facilitate students into partners, partners into groups, and groups into larger groups, according to student readiness for the next stage of the exercise.

Emphasize that this is an exercise, just as athletes work out preparing for a game. The main learning is generated in the reflection afterwards. The essay is the equivalent of the game; they are preparing to write a strong essay about stories within the story of Fences, and how these stories contribute to creating tension, mystery, and surprise.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Teachers should enter this Cornerstone with command of the subject material, specifically the information related to the unit at hand.

LESSON PACING

Below is a recommended pacing for this Cornerstone and the objective for each lesson. More information regarding each lesson can be located in the Cornerstone lesson plans.

DAY	OBJECTIVE
Day 1	Students will select the 5-10 most important lines from the play, Fences. Students will rank those lines and then write brief rationale statements, providing their reasoning and supporting their ideas with their comprehension of the play.
Day 2	Students will select one line to perform for the class. After students practice performing their lines, they will move into small groups and then into one large group. Students will whip around and say their line. After everyone has performed their lines, students will respond to reflection questions.

District of Columbia Public Schools
1200 First Street NE, 8th Floor
Washington, DC 20002

This content was developed by the teachers
and staff of DC Public Schools.
DCPS.CORNERSTONES@DC.GOV

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License Links to an external site..